Lack Of Green Card Halts

Haitian's College Hopes

Shelley Pierre cries when she talks about how she may not be able to attend college.

Although she has lived in Delray Beach for 16 years, Pierre never knew she is not a U.S. citizen and, therefore, not qualified to receive a college scholarship or grant.

Pierre, 18, is Haitian.

"I find it so messed up that I have been in this country for so long, and I know just as much as the next person," Pierre said.

"And now I find out that I can not go to college just because of a stupid piece of paper," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The "stupid piece of paper" is a green card, which is what foreign citizens need to stay in the United States.

Pierre does not have one.

"I can qualify for financial aid very easily, but without a green card that means nothing," Pierre said. "I have always thought I was an American."

Pierre is from a poor family - one of four children being raised by her mother, Lucy Pascal, 42, who works as a housekeeper and sends money to Haiti to support four other children.

They live in Delray Beach's Carver Estates - a neighborhood troubled with crime and poverty.

The problem is not Pierre's alone, but is shared by many foreign students who attend high schools in South Florida.

Foreign students come here as infants or young children, and parents or friends who brought them here never seek citizenship for them.

Pierre's mother never told her she was not a U.S. citizen and never applied for her to get a green card. She said she has never needed proof of her legal status for anything, including a job.

Lamar Wooley, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami, said cases such as Pierre's are dealt with individually because there is no specific policy to address the overall problem.

He said students should contact immigration officials if they don't have a green card.

"Sometimes they may qualify for things they may not be aware of," he said.

He said there is a possibility a student like Pierre could be granted a special status.

Many foreign students drop out of school because it seems so meaningless knowing that college is not in their future, area school officials say.

Some look for work, while others turn to crime.

Pierre quit school in October 1993 to make money to pay for an attorney to help her gain citizenship. She maintains a 3.0 average on a scale of 4.0.

Pierre said she found out it would take $5,000 and about five years before she could become a U.S. citizen.

Judith Joseph, an interpreter at Olympic Heights High School, encouraged Pierre to return to school and is helping her gain formal citizenship.

"Her mother said, `If my daughter goes to college, I will be living a dream that one day she will be able to help us get out of this hole,'" Joseph said.

"But if she stays in the hole with me, there is no hope."

Pierre, who wants to be a doctor or a teacher, worries day in and day out about that dream.

She quit playing basketball because it was leading to a dead end. "I know I would not be able to get a scholarship because I don't have a green card," she said.

Last year she realized she did not have a social security number. With school documents and immunization records, she was able to obtain one.

Pierre said that accomplishment gives her a sliver of hope that maybe her present problem will be solved as well.